Quinn
by scoutfinches
Summary: In a small Chicago suburb lived a little girl. Unlike the other children, she didn't quite fit in. She didn't really get along with her parents, or her babysitter either. So, what happens to those babysitter? Well, they become part of her collection... Her collection of dolls.
1. Chapter 1

_You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone._

 _Don't be afraid, it's not much different from your own world. Because really, it isn't at all._

 _Everything in this zone and real is true, because again, it's your very own world._

And in a small, quiet town, was a small, quiet girl. She lived in a small, quiet house too. Other than that, nothing else about her was all that small, at least not physically.

Every day, she wore her hair in small pigtails. She rode her bike, still with training wheels up and down the sidewalk until her neighbors begged her to go away. To go and make some friends.

The thing is, this little girl had no friends. Despite her sweet appearance, she was calloused like an experienced guitarist's hand. She was rough and tough and full of nicks and scratches. The other schoolchildren saw this and scurried away from her at the recess bell.

In a sense, she felt nothing but apathy. She was a grim girl. A grim, grim girl.

Her parents seldom watched her and took onto their own lives and interests. Their world, in their opinion, was their oyster. And their daughter was in no way at all a part of it.

So, her parents hired babysitters for her. To attack their world and their oyster, they had to leave this girl with someone, right?

Well, of course! Exactly! So, these parents hired babysitters. Often. Each time, it seemed, their daughter would say yet another walked out and would quit, resulting in them having to go and search for another online.

Each of these babysitters had a relatively easy task. The girl mostly played with her dolls and stayed inside, so they watched her do that.

Each doll seemed to resemble a babysitter, as her longing for remembering their fear was one she had quite often; and the babysitters of the past feared for each one that came by, knowing they would suffer the same consequences.

Every teenage girl, college student, or single mother who ever babysat Quinn Behr had one thing in common.

Their fate.

Each and every one of those women ended up in a wicker box in the closet, only summoned at Quinn's demand.

 _They only saw light when the girl shouted, "It's time to play!"_


	2. Chapter 2

_The young woman rushed down the city streets, and the sun burned her eyes._

She took a quick stop to put sunglasses on her face before she kept going again.

She was in a desperate rush, one that could only be relieved by one piece of paper.

A sign, a sign beckoning for a job.

The girl needed work. More than anything else. Her parents had stopped funding for her college and everything in between, as they had before.

"That major isn't practical! Forget it!"

Switching to an art major, getting tattoos, and cutting her hair into a pixie didn't please her parents, and they told her to make sure *not* to do these things. So, they said, "no more!"

She kept on her feet, remembering her life flash before her eyes.

She kept an image up as long as she could. She wanted to be the perfect little blonde girl in pigtails. She rode her bike down the street, and the neighbors came to watch.

"Isn't she just cute!"

Well, she was. In kindergarten, in elementary school, and high school as well. Though her hair became more of a light brown, she still maintained her popularity and prowess, right alongside her quarterback boyfriend.

The last bell on that fateful last day of senior year was supposed to beckon new horizons, but her father persisted she enter college under business and Spanish majors. It was hard to say no, it really was, and she did just that.

She drove to Chicago to attend North Park University, and found it harder to make friends within 'her crowd'. In the truth, she had nothing in common with them. She started hanging out with the art majors, who sang and played guitar. Eventually, she found a talent in the major she was unable to harness before. And finally, after she finished her basic, required classes, she switched majors.

Starting a new chapter of her life was easy for her, but hard for her parents. So, now, that's why she was where she was. Rushing down the Chicago streets.

She was just about to pass the Willis Tower when she saw a stray piece of paper hanging on the first floor windows. She ran even faster to the tower, hoping and praying it was what she had spent all day relentlessly searching for.

And shockingly, it was. She lowered her sunglasses to read the typed sign.

 **Babysitter Needed!**

 **We want a qualified, young woman between the ages of 15 - 25 to come and care for our young daughter!**

 **Please Call us at (773) 554-7843 or come visit us at 1278 La Grande Road in Orland Park for an interview.**

 **Thank you for your consideration, Kathy & Kevin Behr**

This wasn't _exactly_ the kind of job she wanted, but decided to give it a chance, though reluctantly.

It'd be easy, she thought. All she had to do was watch television and sit on the couch while the little girl played with her dolls.

 _Not that hard, right?_

She snagged the paper off the tall window before going back down the street. She called the number without hesitation.

"Hello, this is Kathy Behr speaking. How can I help you?"

The mother, Kathy seemed kind and chipper enough. So, she answered.

"Oh! Hello! This is Jade Hardy! I'm an art major at North Park University, and I'm calling about your babysitting job."

Kathy, who was making sandwiches in the kitchen, smiled. She hadn't gotten a single call yet, despite the strategic paper placing all over the Windy City.

"Great! How about you come over and talk with us? I'm just making lunch! You can even meet Quinn while you're at it!"

Jade grinned, and agreed to it.

 _What could possibly go wrong?_


	3. Chapter 3

_Jade pulled into the driveway of the Behr home, right in the Orland Park suburb._

She opened her car door and quickly observed the house as she ran to the blue front door.

Like the front door, the shutters and garage were also blue. The house was a simple, white ranch.

Covering the windows from the inside of the house were lace curtains. Through the curtains, Jade could see a little girl, just like she was in her own childhood.

She had perfect pigtails, just like she did.

Jade took a glimpse at the small garden in front of the house, which had roses and camellias.

Then, she knocked on the front door. Before she had a chance to think about it anymore, she heard the clicks of high heels rushing across hardwood.

Then, the door opened, and a seemingly tall woman with dyed blonde hair answered.

"Hello! Come in!" The woman, Quinn's mother, Kathy, seemed unusually chipper. "Go sit in the living room. I'll get you something to drink. Do you want lemonade?"

Jade was uncomfortably standing in front of the door. "Yeah. Sure." She nervously giggled, and then slowly walked to the living room. The decor looked like her grandmother's house. Lace was _everywhere._ On the curtains, framed on the walls, and on the end tables as doilies. The furniture was all Victorian vintage. The couches were velvet and the wall paper was floral, similar to the era.

The only thing was, the house was obviously _not_ Victorian. It looked like it was built in the late 50's, _at least._

The elements of Grandmother Hardy's house made Jade uncomfortable, but one thing made her even less at ease.

Where the television should have sat was a large family photograph. It was as if this woman wanted to be the _epitome_ of wholesome. That she was so wholesome that she wouldn't even let her daughter watch television.

 _This woman wears high heels and pants, but compared to the Duggars, she takes the cake of wholesomeness. She. Is. Crazy. And I want out._

Jade regretted ever walking past the Willis Tower and finding that piece of paper.

Just as she was finally about to slither away, Kathy arrived with a tray of lemonade and tea sandwiches.

"So, Miss Jade, tell me about yourself." She gave Jade a cheesy smile. "Tell me everything."

Jade didn't really want to, and the woman kept staring right at her. Well, her and the hint of the rose tattoo she could see under Jade's lace shirt.

"Well... I'm an art major at North Park. I'm nineteen. And I need to have a job to support myself. I have a scholarship, but it isn't enough. I have to try and get by... "

"Well, why aren't your parents helping you, dear?"

"Because they didn't want me to major in art. They said I'd have to work for myself now, and I'm willing to do it. I think I need this job. I don't know where else to turn..."

She could've worked at Office Depot, or McDonald's or somewhere else. But she didn't. Instead, she just wallowed around for a while, until she finally ran our of money. She considered burning her pieces like Picasso to keep warm, but winter already passed.

There was no need. And a North Park student going to eat at a homeless shelter wasn't an option.

"Oh, well, it isn't very practical nowadays."

Kathy sipped on her own class of lemonade, obviously referring to Jade's major of choice.

"But I think you should do what you enjoy. You know what?"

Jade ate a tea sandwich wiped a smudge of mayonnaise from her cheek.

"What?"

"You've got the job, dear!"

Jade was at first confused, but then shook the woman's hand.

"Great. When do I start?"

"How about right now?"

Jade again became flustered. But reluctantly agreed to watch the little girl.

"Let me introduce you!" The mother grasped Jade's wrist and dragged her to the girl sitting by the window, playing with her dolls.

"Quinn, this is Jade, your new babysitter! Say hi to Jade!"

Quinn waved at Jade, but continued to play with her dolls.

"Great. Well, I'll be off to the mall. I'll be back in a few hours. Be good, okay?"

Quinn nodded her head and watch her mother walk away. Then, she turned to Jade.

"You want to look at my dolls?" She questioned the tall college student.

"Well, of course!" The girl seemed innocent enough to Jade, and she thought she should give her a chance.

Right as Jade sat down on the hardwood, those thoughts were assuaged.

On of the dolls turned her head on her own and looked at Jade with sad eyes.

 _Jade swore the doll asked for help._


	4. Chapter 4

The day had passed and Jade miraculously completed her job without fail. She was given a crisp twenty dollar bill and was sent back to North Park.

She hated her job and felt that the house and family has an ominous aura, but she had more to spend. So, she was happy, in a sense.

It was night, just about eight, Quinn's bedtime. The dolls were put back in their wicker basket in the dark, and finally, it seemed, she was out of sight and out of mind.

"Is she gone?" A quiet voice called in the room, only quiet enough for her and her cohorts to hear. Quinn was bound to come back sometime soon.

"Yeah, Rhonda. She's gone." Another replied, also in a whisper.

"Thank goodness!" Rhonda adjusted her position in the wicker basket. Her blonde bangs and ponytail were again matted, and she ran her formerly human fingers through her hair as she could.

None of the others spoke, so Rhonda spoke again.

"We should try and come up with a plan.. Please, we have to!"

They all knew of the plan. The plan was quite simple.

The plan was to escape. To escape from Quinn.

Quinn was something else, but not in a good way. Quinn was demonic, in some way or another. Nobody really knew how or why, but ever since she was born in the early 50s, she hadn't aged a day. She and her family wore clothes that complimented the eras they were in, and acted like the new family that moved in every ten years, on the dot, to not raise any suspicion. Despite that, nobody ever really noticed them, because in big places like Chicago and Orland Park, not a single soul ever knew their neighbors.

The dolls, the girls, were all sucked in at different times. And all of them were disticnt, whether they participated in the planning or not. For now, I think I'll only mention the few who _are_ involved.

Firstly, we have Rhonda. The leader of the group. She came during the time of _To Kill a Mockingbird_ and Beatlemania. She was bright and bubbly, and was quite popular among her classmates. She was fifteen the day she came to work for the Behrs, and she was also fifteen the day she went missing.

She was the first doll to be turned. And she was frightened and alone for a long, long time. She saw other girls come and go, and she tried to warn them. But they never saw a thing. And due to that, she tried to increase her efforts to help not only others, but herself. And besides that, all of the dolls trusted her as their leader.

"I stand right by you, Rhonda. I swear. How about the rest of you?" Luna, the other doll who spoke earlier, spoke again.

Luna was much older, twenty, when she came to babysit Quinn. Like Jade, she came for money to help her get by. As her family too was unsupportive in her ventures, and well, she wanted to branch out to bigger, better things anyhow. She lived in the frightening Gary Indiana before moving to Chicago. She watched the building of the Willis (then Sears) Tower and decided to put her hair up in dreadlocks. It was hard for her to sell her clothing and artwork, despite the popularity of patchwork and bright colors in her era, the 70s. Racism was still relevant in the primarily white Chicago. So, she came to work for the for the Behr family.

She too was obviously turned into a doll, and she became Rhonda's right hand woman.

A few shouts came from the other dolls, and they let the two leaders speak amongst themselves.

"We've had years to do this... How will we do it right?" Luna asked.

"I don't know.. With the new girl who worked today. I can feel that she the next one."

"Rhonda, you say that every time!"

"I know, but I can't help it!"

"Well, I guess you have a point, I feel bad that we get kind of excited about these things.. I think she has a car, doesn't she?"

"The new girl? Yeah. I figured."

"Well, how about we have her take us with her by accident!"

"Nonsense! Quinn will complain and make her drive right back here to give us back."

"Well, what else can we do?"

"Nothing, I assume."

Luna's hazel eyes stared into Rhonda's blue ones in the dark.

"We need to try. It's been half a century since this all started. And I think it's about time that it has to stop."

The dolls were then silent, and night then began to fall.

The end, possibly, was finally beginning.


	5. Chapter 5

Another mall date for Kathy had come, and so had Jade to babysit once again.

Quinn looked different when she saw her that afternoon. Unlike before, she wore a pair of purple rimmed glasses.

"What do you think?" Quinn asked Jade, with wide eyes, as she held Luna, a doll, in her hand.

"You look nice." Jade grinned as wide as she could. Though she was making good money in the past few weeks, she felt more and more uneasy about the house each time she walked in and walked out.

She had a feeling something was up. And many small instances she had initially ignored proved it.

One afternoon, for most of the evening, Quinn napped in her room. As requested, Jade stayed with her. She pulled a chair in from the kitchen and read her copy of _To Kill a Mockingbird._ When she read, she got quite distracted.

She got the gist of the chapter she read, but she swore she heard whispers from the closet.

So, she shut her book and quietly tiptoed to the closet. She slowly opened the door, just to check. Only to find one of the dolls staring at her wide eyed, as a Barbie never could.

And then that doll, a blonde, turned her head right in front of Jade.

Though hidden from everyone, even from her extended family, was one thing. Jade was diagnosed with severe depression. When not being able to choose the life she wanted to live, of course she did! So, she suffered from that and was prescribed medication. The medication didn't work the first few times around, because Jade explained she saw things. Sometimes flashes in front of her eyes.

Hallucinations.

It was later known between four people, Jade, her parents, and her doctor, that she suffered the depression along with psychopathic tendencies.

Due to this, Jade thought that it was merely a flash. Nothing of concern.

Until now.

Jade sat down near Quinn, her purple glasses, and her wicker basket.

"I don't know why I need glasses!" Quinn shouted. "I don't get it. The doctor said I couldn't see right anymore. How does that even work? I see what I see and you see what you see. Does it matter?"

Quinn, though apathetic to most, was smart. She had been a young girl for more than fifty years and had time to retain knowledge about things like perception, even if it wast accurate.

"Yes, it does, dear. You see, when the doctor talks about what you see, he doesn't mean what you see in terms of perception. He means that your vision of the world in general, whether you think or not, isn't all that great. You need glasses because the things in front of you are blurry. And you need to see them clearly to do things when you're older. Like driving. And things you do now, like school. Right?"

"I'm homeschooled." Quinn answers.

 _Go figure..._

"Well, you still need to see your papers, right?"

Quinn was silent, and nodded her head. "Yeah. I guess so."

Jade rubbed her arms, it was getting cold in the room.

"Can I turn off the fan?"

"Not unless you call my mom. Dad is too busy."

"Well, what about I grab a blanket. Is that okay?"

Quinn nodded, and Jade grabbed a blanket from the closet. The very closet thay also housed the wicker basket.

Then, she sat and watched the dolls. She tried to see them move again. And she actually hopes they would.

She wanted to be right, and she wanted to be sane for once.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to the bathroom." Quinn mindlessly dropped a doll, a doll which looked like it came from the limited edition _Breakfast Club_ doll set, on the floor, and then ran to the bathroom.

The doll looked like Molly Ringwald. That fact alone intrigued Jade, and she lifted the doll from the ground.

"Hey!" The doll shouted, yet whispered. "Did you ask first!?"

"No.." Jade whispered back, as her eyes widened in shock. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Quinn _never_ asks first. By the way, my name's Molly."

The doll moved her hands on her hips, which caused Jade to become shaky from holding her.

"Molly... I'm Jade.. Are you... Are you real? Am I seeing things?"

The doll, coincidentally named Molly, smiled. "Yeah. We all are. We were all just like you once."

Jade became confused, and scared as she heard Quinn flush the toilet from across the hall.

"Sorry, explain later!" Jade gently placed Molly back where she was before on the hardwood.

"Understood." Molly muttered, and then went back to a still position.

Quinn rushed back to play with her dolls. She noticed that Jade was acting different. Much, much different.

 _Does she know? Does she know my dolls can talk?_

So, she stopped playing and stared down Jade straight in the eye.

"Jade, can you please not play with my dolls?"

"I don't. I never have. Why are you asking?"

Quinn gave her an even angrier expression. "Why were you talking to Molly? Like she was a person? How did you know her name?"

Jade's eyes began to we'll with tears. "I don't know! I see things sometimes and I.. I'm a bit sick, but I'm still capable of doing my job! I promise! It was a single mess up. I won't do it again!"

Quinn crossed her arms. "You know. You've known for a long time."

"Known what?"

"You know my dolls are people. Don't you?"

Jade put her hands in her face. "Yes. I do. And I don't know why. You should free them, Quinn. They've done nothing to you. Absolutely nothing."

"They've done things they can't see. Like I can't see without my glasses. It's perception. Jade, it's perception. And you're next."

"Huh?"

Before she could receive an answer, she began to shrink. And by the time she imagined the horror of living as a doll, she became one herself.


	6. Chapter 6

She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

She was seeing the ceiling, but it was still a strange sight. It was.. Different.

It was from a doll's perspective. Her perspective. That's why.

 _She said it's all about perception.. Is it? Do I have to see things through smaller eyes?_

She felt like she was staring at the ceiling for hours. Her eyes ached, but it was hard to shut them. She was a doll, and movement in all aspects was limited.

She wasn't hungry or thirsty anymore. And until she was to become human again, if it was possible, she wouldnt be.

As she laid there, she heard all of the doll's names, and tried hard to associate face and name.

Rhonda, Luna, Hannah, Jackie, Sophia, and Molly.

She tried to keep her composure, and lost track after those names. She wanted to burst into tears by the end of the evening.

"Mom! I got a new doll! You wanna see her!"

"Yes, dear! How about you show your father too?"

Quinn picked up Jade from the ground and smiled. "Yeah!"

When Quinn ran down to her father's office, Jade wanted to cover her ears from the newly loud noise of her feet running across the ground.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look at my new doll!"

A tall, grey haired man sat in a chair in the office, frantically typing at his typewriter. When Quinn came in rhe room, he opened his hands not for her, but for Jade.  
Jade was now in the big hands of this man, and it was making her feel more squeamish.

Mr. Kevin Behr studied the doll carefully, lifting her sleeves to see her tattoos and brushed back her hair to better see her face.

"She's beautiful, dear. Absolutely beautiful. Good choice."

She giggled, "Thank you, Daddy! Good night!"

"Good night, Quinn." He mumbled, before beginning his work again.

Quinn then went back to the living room. She picked up all of the dolls and put them in their basket, before placing it in the closet.

"Good night, Mother!" Quinn called from her bed, before covering her face with the sheets.

For the night, the coast was clear, and Jade was lying uncomfortably on the bottom of the wicker basket.

The dolls got up and moved, memorizing their spots for the morning. After they all assembled on the closet floor, Rhonda lifted Jade and sat her in a circle with the others.

"We tried to warn you... We really did.. We're so, so sorry. It's hard. Especially on the first night." Rhonda put a hand on Jade's shoulder.

"It's fine.. I thought I was just hallucinating.. That you weren't really moving... What did I do wrong? Why did I become one of you?"

Rhonda sighed. "I don't know. But I can tell you how I became a doll.. I was the first one."

"The others frowned, as if they heard the story a million times. However, Rhonda continued speaking anyway.

 _"It began on a rainy afternoon, and my boyfriend just dropped me off at the door.."_

The rain pattered on the roof of the Behr home as Rhonda, a fifteen year old human girl, was walking up to the front door along with her boyfriend, seventeen year old Jimmy Schmidt.

Jimmy was carrying a big wooden box, which was wrapped with blankets. Rhoda carried a smaller box, which was also wrapped in blankets.

A record player and a set of Beatles records, including the new album, _Hard Day's Night._ The year was 1964.

Jimmy quickly rang the doorbell and heard Kathy running from the kitchen to answer it.  
"Have answer good evening, baby. You know I love you. Don't you?" Jimmy asked, taking one hand off the box to slick back his hair.

"Of course, Jimmy. Hold on to that tight! That's the only record player I have!" Rhonda laughed.

Jimmy flashed her a smile before grabbing the box again. "I love you anyway."

"Oh, I love you too!" Rhonda snuck a kiss on her boyfriend's lips. "Have a good evening too, stay safe!"

Missus Behr opened the door and took the record player from Jimmy. "Thank you very much, young man."

In 1964, Kathy Behr dressed much differently, and in a way, acted much differently as well. She wore light pink cat eye glasses, and always wore an apron or skirt to match. That evening, her hair was tied like Rhonda's, and she also wore the same, straight cut bangs. And also, that evening, she was going to play cards with a few of her girlfriends, so she wore a pink, tweed pantsuit for the occasion.

She stared sternly at Rhonda. "Come in."

Rhonda waved to Jimmy. He waved back, and then, Kathy shut the door.

As Rhonda saw the door slam, she flinched. Almost knowing she'd never come out.

"Is this a record player, Rhonda?"

"Yes, ma'am. I thought your daughter would like The Beatles. They're pretty clean cut, ma'am. There won't be any harm done."

"As long as you wait until I leave." Kathy said, before she walked out the door herself.

"Quinn!" Rhonda shouted, "I'm here! You wanna listen to some records?"

"Oh boy! Of course!" Long ago, Quinn was once warm and sociable and friendly. Fifty years of agelessness had hardened her. She wasn't meant to live a life as long as she had, and what happened to her proved it.

Then, she wore her hair short, above the shoulders, and wore a dress with a peter pan collar, like any other girl on the street.

And then, she was also more than willing to hug Rhonda. And more than willing to listen to her babysitter's favorite band.

For a while, all was peaceful. Rhonda played her records in peace and quiet. Then, Kathy came home, and heard Paul McCartney harmonizing, long after Quinn had fallen asleep.

"Rhonda! What did I tell you about playing records when I'm here?"

Rhonda, who had fallen asleep, awoke on the couch. "Not to play them... I'm sorry, ma'am. It's been and long night. I fell asleep." She lifted the needle from the record player and shut it off at her employer's request.

"Rhonda, and I also told you only to feed Quinn food from _my_ pantry! Why is there a box of your mother's pasta salad on my counter?"

"She thought we would be hungry, since she knew you'd be out for as long as you were. It's nothing, ma'am. We thanked her and ate it. She was just being generous. It was a one time thing, I swear."

"You say that and you'll probably do it again! Girls like you do it every time, Rhonda! You're no different from every other conniving teenage girl! Not at all! You're fired, Rhonda! You're fired!"

Rhonda shivered in the middle of the living room, staring straight into Kathy's eyes.

 _"I told her I was sorry. And I begged and begged to her to leave me alone. And she wouldn't. She never touched me. She only looked at me. And I was on the floor by the end of it, plastic. As I am to this day."_

Jade's widened. She had no clue what to think, but she commented anyway.

"She has a short temper. Doesn't she?"

Rhonda chuckled. "After fifty years, honey, we all do!" She then stared at the others.

"Okay! Well, then. Who's next?"

Jade looked around the crowd and she saw a bejeweled hand go up.

"I am."


	7. Chapter 7

Jade was kept on the edge of her metaphorical seat. This doll was one she saw before, but never heard speak, or sat much of anything at all.

"Great, Hannah! Please, begin."

Hannah, the doll with many rings permanently on her fingers nodded her head and cleared her throat.

 _"It was summer. And it was pretty... Exciting. I was having fun, and I needed money. To have fun and finish college. I hade one semester to go and I swore I'd make it through. I swore to God.."_

And swore, she did. Right before she saw a sign stuck on an electrical post by the Orland Park pool. Asking for a job. At the time, she was a bit dazed. Well, high, on weed she bought from that neighbor boy down the street, and snatched it right off the post and almost shocked herself.

Even in the state she was in, she just went right ahead on her merry way, singing along to the new Nirvana album on her Walkman. And ultimately looked like an idiot. She cared less, and she wished every evening before the door closed in the closet that she could anymore, twenty years later.

When she had gotten home and the high wore off, she read the sign. She was still serious about looking for for a job. She called the number and drove down to the house. She seemed reasonable enough, she supposed.

Never before did she think she could care for such a young child. Not ever in her life. For the sake of her own enjoyment, she took the plunge and by the end of the day, was knocking on the door.

She realized that as she stood there, that her appearance was a bit demeaning. And she felt that she'd intimidate a girl like little Quinn Behr. It was too late to turn back. With black and red hair and tattoos and combat boots, she still had to walk in the door anyway.

Kathy answered instantly, as she always had, before walking in to introduce Hannah to Quinn.

Kathy had changed her appearance completely over the decades, though it seemed she hadn't aged a day. Unbeknownst to Hannah at the time.

What was in fashion, were mom jeans. Kathy wore those, along with a top that tied at the bottom, and a pair of black rimmed glasses.

Quinn had her jeans on as well, just like her mother, and she wore a Looney Tunes t-shirt, which was quite too baggy. Her bangs and hair were curled in loose ringlets.

And she played with her dolls too.

Kathy still wanted to head out, so she _had_ to let Hannah have the job. What here she liked it or not.

But it was okay the first time. The girls got along, and it didn't really matter.

The second time as likewise. And the third. And Quinn was getting close to Hannah. Even if she was a bit frightening.

Then, the day came. The last day of Hannah's true human life. It came from the blow of a whistle and the screech of a teapot.

She was trying to cook in Kathy's kitchen, which was still a violation of protocol thity years later. Then, she would have given Hannah a simple warning, as her temper had gone down significantly. The whistle was from outside. It was a game the other more sociable children were playing.

And the signal that Kathy Behr had arrived home, with a discovery. Which she kept in her pocket until the others couldn't see. And she exposed it right in front of Hannah's nose as she watched the little girl play on the floor with her dolls, which like Jade, she swore she saw move a few times.

"What in the name of our Lord Jesus is in the plastic bag, Hannah?"

"I don't know. It isn't mine.." Hannah stared at horror, trying her hardest to be a convincing liar.

She realized then that she should have waited until after work to pick up her bag of pot from the neighbor boy. But he was out, and it was convenient to just pass by and take it from him. She didnt want to expose Quinn to it, and she had completely disregarded the fact that she gave the girl's mother the right to look into her car if need be.

In other words, she screwed herself over.

 _I need to quit anyway.. I've learned my lesson. I'm fired.. Send me home.. I'll give Tim his weed and he'll give me my money. And I'll never come back.._

"You know damn well that this is marijuana! And I don't think that you should be doing drugs if you're caring for my daughter! Did you plan to smoke this?"

"No! No! What are you talking about, ma'am!"

Before she knew it, the bag was thrown in the trash, and Kathy stomped over to her daughter's room. To talk.

It felt like hours, and though she had a gut feeling to get out, Hannah wanted to apologize to Quinn and say goodbye. It felt like the right thing to do, so she waited on that couch for the girl to come out.

Oh, and Quinn came out all right, she certainly did.

"Mommy said you did a bad thing. You try to kill yourself from the inside out. And I can't have that. I won't let you. You have to live for as long as you can, and old make sure of that..."

"And she turned me. With no effort at all.. And I've been plastic for twenty years..."

"Well, I admit it wasn't smart to keep that in your car... But this is still way too much punishment.." Luna tried to explain, but was given a glare from Hannah.

"Says the hippie chick, huh?'"

"Don't judge me by stereotypes. You know _nothing_ about my life!"

One thing Luna refused to tell the dolls was her own horror story. Well, until that evening, that is.

Her heart ached for Jade like none of the other dolls. Maybe because she was older than most of them, or maybe because she was going places and becoming the next Picasso, without burning her paintings, of course.

She had time on her hands, and things to do before then, and now, she was stuck in the closet in the wicker basket with the rest of them.

Luna felt pity, so, she she spit the words out. Like gum in a wastebasket.

 _"It began when I was in a hurry.. You see, I was running behind."_

Luna was idling in the busy Chicago street, right in front of the soon to be completed Sears Tower. The year was 1973, and traffic was more clogged than a hairy drain. At least in Luna's mind.

Before anything disastrous happened, she was merely driving to work. Work for a wowmn named Kathy Behr, a married housewife and mother of one. A daughter, Quinn, who Luna babysat to make ends meet. She wanted to be an architect, and college was the only way to do it. And earning money was the only way to go to college. You needed so much, in fact, that her parents in Gary, Indiana refused to pay for it.

"Dear, stay here! You'll make plenty of money in the factories! It'll be swell, we promise!"

The industrial skyline and the industrial pollution appealed not in the slightest to Luna. She wanted something better, something brighter. And of course, fresh air.

It was hard in the mean streets of Chicago. Hard, hard, and harder. Her neighbors were getting somewhere in the music world, the Jacksons, but she was getting nowehere in the busy Chicago intersection.

Not even when the light said go. And not even when she was given the right of way, either

Her car had failed to start again. Right in the middle of the street. Nobody could go unless she could.

A whole frenzy was ensuing in front of her eyes. Wrecks and pileups were left and right. And all she could do was bang her head on her steering wheel in pure frustration.

The police finally arrived along with a tow truck, and they took her car away to a repair shop. Luna was driven right to the Behr house, without having to be interrogated.

It was purely an accident. Even Kathy knew that as her babysitter walked into the door that evening, but she still fussed over the whole thing.

"You shouldn't drive under the influence, darling. It's bad for you." She glared at Luna, looking straight at her dreadlocks and brightly patched bell bottoms. At that time, Kathy's hair was long and straight, she grew out her bangs and wore almost the exact same eccentric style her babysitter had, but even she couldn't leave behind the belief of her own superiority.

To Kathy, then, black was better than white. That is, until it was convenient to believe otherwise, not because it was moral to do so.

Even Quinn wore the same look, though with shorter hair and brighter colors, but she still had some kindness in her heart. Enough to try and defend Luna, before giving up and turning her into a doll at her mother's will.

The anger the Behr women felt was not only pented up from Luna's lateness, but from the one reason Luna found it so hard to find a job in the Windy City.

Racism. Pure, utter racism. They were superior, they were better, and even when she thought she's could trust them, they showed it. They flaunted it like a brand new fur coat, and Luna was so used to the concept that she felt she could do no more than bat an eye.

 _"And I failed.. I failed to notice anything. In a way, I was a coward. A blasted coward. And i think i might deserve this for not standing up for myself."_

Jade's eyes narrowed and she became discontent. "No, no! You deserve none of that! Nothing!"

Jade wished she felt tired, but didn't. She was plastic. She would never feel pain, or hunger, or thirst, or tiredness unless she became human again. She knew all too well the likelihood was almost zilch, and she tried it keep herself calm, like she already had many times before that evening.

"Does anyone else want to share?"

Molly nodded her head. "Sure. Why not?"


	8. Chapter 8

_"My friends thought I was crazy. They thought I was a bit too old to babysit. But then aagain, maybe I was.. "_

Fall was just coming upon the city of Chicago.

And it was the absolute wrong time to get a job, but Molly put her foot on the gas anyway and drove to Orlando Park.

She made sure to wear her pink dress, and her boots, and also made sure not to bring her boyfriend.

 _Sorry, Anthony. Maybe next time..._

That, and cooking in the kitchen, were both off protocol.

She stood anxiously at the door, hoping to impress the family.

That evening, she did. And she did the next, and the next, and the next.

The thing about Molly's impressiveness was that she was telling lies about her life. Lies that she knew would appeal to the parents.

"Are you single?" Kathy questioned her one afternoon before walking out the door, wearing her usual neon leg warmers, headband, and scrunchie for the gym, along with _plenty_ of spandex.

"Yes, ma'am!" The answer was nothing but a fib. Her relationship with Anthony was nothing like a friendship, not in the slightest.

Another night, she had asked if Molly was popular at school. She said no, because she knew it would be a turn-off to Mrs. Behr. And if that was the case, she'd lose her job. For sure.

Popularity meant John Hughes films and parties and drinks and drugs. Mrs. Behr was very opposed to it, and was wrong to think Molly was that kind of girl.

She simply wasn't. All she wanted was to take care of Quinn and do her job.

Mainly, the job was simply playing with Quinn and her eclectic collection of dolls. Sometimes, she helped Quinn crimp and curl her hair and dye streaks in bright, funky colors. And for a while, all was well. They got along, and almost became friends.

One evening, the night was going to last long. Similarly to Rhonda's last night on the job. Molly figured it was acceptable to bring Anthony to help her just that once.

She waited until long after Kathy left before calling him to come over. He drove over with food and drinks for the girls, and also, a movie. Molly's favorite, _Funny Face_ , staring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire.

While they watched the movie together, Kathy came home, carrying bags upon bags, fresh from a shopping trip.

Her eyes widened at the sight, even if no harm was being done. It was the one rule that none of the girls had broken before.

"Who's this? " She questioned Molly, gesturing towards Anthony.

"Oh, just a friend who wanted to help out. I said it was going to be a long night. He wanted to make sure we were comfortable."

"Sure he is. Hes your boyfriend, isn't he?"

Molly made a vital mistake and was honest, "Yes. We haven't really done anything, I swear."

Anthony butted in. He stood up, wiped the sleeves of his green sweater, and told Kathy, "I love children. I wanted to help. That's all. Molly just happened to be the one who needed that today, and it's rare that anyone needs help at all. It had nothing to do with the fact that she's my girlfriend."

"I think it does, young man! It has *everything* to do with it! "

"No, no! Ma'am! I'm sorry. I really am!"

 _"She was pretty angry at both of us.. She said we weren't sorry, and now, I'm here. And he's in her room. She doesn't want him here with me, and she made sure that we'd never see each other again. Even if we're only a few feet away from each other."_

The sun rose, as Jade saw from out the window. She rubbed her eyes, which she was able to blink despite her new form.

"That'll be all for tonight." Rhonda explained, "Kathy's gonna wake up soon."

And she was right, because only a minute later, bare footsteps echoed in the halls.


	9. Chapter 9

The alarm made it's shrill shriek. Once more, it was six in the morning.

"Oh God.. No.."

Yet another female college student rolled out of bed. She turned on the light in her dorm, where normally, her roommate would also sleep.

She was at home with her family for the weekend. So, that left Harper, the unfortunate Alabama writing transfer, to go about her day as normal. And of course, to take her Saturday calculus class.

So, she took a quick shower in the dorm bathroom. She then dried her short, almost boyish brown hair. She wore her usual t-shirt, cardigan, and jeans to face the utterly challenging day ahead of her.

Three hours of calculus _obviously_ didn't sound appealing. It was in both her own knowledge and the knowledge of her professor that she had no desire to be there.

After her class was over that afternoon, she took the usual path back to her dorm. Normally, on her walks, it seemed the art majors always congregated underneath the trees and played guitar.

That afternoon was no exception, but something was off.

Almost the entire group was in their same spot. Only one had even brought their guitar. The rest were shouting and waving around flyers.

This, of course, sparked Harper's curiosity. She ran up to the group, and one of the students with the flyers, a friend from her hometown, spoke to her immediately.

"Hey, Harps! Have you seen Jade Hardy anywhere?" He handed her a flyer. If you do, let us know. Okay? "

She took a look at the flyer, and then at Eldred, her friend.

She remembered Jade vaguely from her walks, where she normally saw her with the art majors every afternoon. She hadn't seen Jade in a few days, and had become concerned, but had no clue if it was something she should worry about herself.

"Not for a few days, actually. I have no clue where she went. I've been worried.. Because I normally see her every afternoon when I walk to my dorm. I hope you'll be able to find her soon. I'll try and help you as best as I can."

Eldred was different than the other art majors. He was tall, handsome, and almost always well dressed. Not only that, but it seemed his affections also extended outside the field of art.

They extended to the woman who was standing right in front of him.

"Thank you so much, Harper. Call me if you find anything. Please." He put his hand on her's for a single second.

She was shocked by his touch, and pulled back. "Okay. I will. Thank you."

She waved to him and smiled before posting the image on her corkboard in her dorm room. Then, she left again, this time, she went on a walk in the city, passing the Willis Tower on the way.

As she walked past, a white flash on the first floor window caught her eye.

She stopped and stepped closer to get a better look.

It was a paper, a sign.

When she was able to read the sign, she was given sudden hope, as she needed a job.

 _Babysitter Needed!_

 _We want a qualified young woman between the ages of 15 - 25 to come and care for our young daughter!_

 _Please ccall us at (773) 554 -7843 or come visit us at 1278 La Grade Road in Orlando Park for an interview._

 _Thank you for your consideration, Kathy & Kevin Behr_

She picked up her phone and called the number on the spot.

"Hello?" The voice of an exuberant housewife was on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, hello! Is this.. Uh.. Kathy?" Harper kept her eyes on the flyer, trying not to forget the names of the couple.

"Yes, it is, dear, what do you need?"

"I need a job, and I was wanting to know if I could have an interview to see I was qualified to work for you. "

Kathy chuckled, "Of course! Drive to my house right now! Please! We _really_ need you!"

Harper laughed, "Okay! I'll be there soon! Goodbye!"

Harper snatched the flyer and ran to the closest bus stop and hitched a ride to Orlando Park.

She arrived to the Behr home an hour later, and knocked on the door. Kathy, like with Jade, rushed to answer. When Harper was inside, she offered her lemonade and sandwiches.

As she had before, Kathy wanted her new babysitter to tell her a little about herself. The basics.

Harper told her about her writing and her school. She explained that she needed money to make ends meet.

Kathy liked both what she saw and heard, as she noticed that Harper was her perfect choice for the next victim.

"You're hired! Do you wanted to meet my daughter?"

Harper smiled, liking the idea of meeting Quinn, the cute little girl who was wearing purple rimmed glasses, who was playing with her dolls nearby.

Without any hesitation, Harper walked up to the girl, and sat down in front of her.

"Hello, what's your name?" She questioned the girl.

"Quinn."

"What a beautiful name! My name is Harper, and I'm your new babysitter."

Quinn's eyes widened in curiosity. "Like Harper Lee?"

"How do you know about her?"

"One of my old babysitters was reading her book. "

Harper laughed, "You're so smart! "

Quinn shrugged her shoulders and went back to playing with her dolls, and Harper watched her.

That's when she noticed something terribly wrong.

One of the dolls looked _exactly_ like Jade Hardy.

And that doll turned her head in Harper's direction.


	10. Chapter 10

Time had passed by slowly for the dolls. Just as it always had. Night fell once again, which finally beckoned a chance for conversation.

The dolls sat together in a circle ready to tell their stories again.

Rhonda asked if anyone wanted to volunteer.

A doll who was about her age, who was also dressed similarly, raised her lithe plastic hand.

She never really spoke much, and was quite shy. The fact that she was shy as she was meant Jade never got to know her name.

"My name's Jackie. I came here in 1966. All I wanted was some extra cash.. "

If you didn't know, the very last Beatles concert was in 1966. At Candlestick Park. In California, where Jackie stayed with her aunt every summer. Her aunt told her that if she had enough money, she would be able to go.

So Jackie was desperate. So, she took a babysitting job with the Behr family.

Again, for a long time, things went fairly well. Jackie came, cared for Quinn, left, and put the money she earned in her 'Beatles Bank.'

Summer was almost around the corner, and Jackie almost had enough money for her concert. Her excitement was riding as the time flew by, and Jackie was so excited that she played the new Beatles album for Quinn.

Sadly, her excitement got the best of her. One evening, while listening to the first track of the _Revolver_ album, the taxman, Kathy, literally got to her.

In other words, she put pennies on Jackie's eyes.

She's been a doll ever since.

Only one other doll wanted to tell her story, the youngest of them all.

Fourteen year old Sophia.

"My mother and I moved here from Boston. She's a pathologist. And we came here from China. It was hard for us, really, really hard."

Being an immigrant, it was already hard enough for Sophia to live in America. She had to change her name, her home, and her life.

So, when she didn't fit in at school, it was an even bigger blow.

All of the other girls, it seemed, had started to babysit. The spunky Sophia wasn't exactly fit for a job, but at that point, she'd do anything to fit in, besides dying her hair. Which was a bright pink on the bottom.

The hair startled Kathy when she arrived to the sight, but in need of a babysitter, she hired her anyway.

Again, for a while, a year, all was well. Sophia and Quinn got along.

It was Sophia's birthday. And her mother was off of work. So, that planned to celebrate.

Halfway through their girl's day, Kathy called, wanting Sophia to come and watch Quinn.

Sophia refused, due to obvious reasons, not aware of the consequences of this woman's hot temper.

In the end, Kathy compromised and let Sophia have her day, but was boiling in a big, fat pot of anger.

When Sophia came to work the next day, she was greeted with crossed arms and a body of plastic.

That was that. That was all. Then, it was over.

She was a doll. And unless a miracle arose, she would be forever.

"I miss my mom.. I don't know if it was worth it.."

"It was, Soph, it was."


	11. Chapter 11

The next afternoon, class dragged on for Harper. Yet another calculus class brought on more dread and more homework.

It wasn't what she wanted to do. At all. So when she found out she had to work, that was really the icing on the cake.

She took the bus to Orlando Park and went to the Behr home to begin duty.

Quinn was where she always was. On the hardwood, in her glasses, playing with her dolls.

Harper remembered the evening before, when the 'Jade' doll looked at her. It was very thought provoking, and she couldn't keep her mind off of the strange occurrence.

So, she sat next to Quinn, and asked her a question, "Can I play with you?"

Quinn nodded her head. "Sure."

Harper reached for the 'Jade' doll and took a closer look.

Her hairstyle was _exactly_ the same. Her clothes looked like the one she wrote the last day Harper saw her.

These things seemed like coincidences, all until Harper let her eyes finally wander to Jade's brightly colored tattoos.

Jade's tattoos were unique, as she designed them herself. All of the art on her body was her own.

And all of those tattoos were the _exact_ same as the ones Jade had.

Harper's eyes widened and she dropped Jade in shock.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Harper assured Quinn that she was fine. Then, she picked Jade up from the floor.

"Okay. I'll go to the restroom real quick. I'll be back in a few."

Quinn darted away, leaving Harper alone with the dolls.

"Harper?" Jade wanted to know the identity of this new babysitter for certain, and she recalled that a girl just like her spoke to their mutual friend, Eldred.

Harper was startled again, but answered. "Jade, is that you? "

"Yes.. It is. Listen, that girl is a nut! She _turned_ me into a doll! I recommend you get out while you can, okay? These people are into some kind of crazy voodoo if you ask me."

Harper nodded her head. "I want to save you. Eldred and your art friends are having a search party for you.. Do you think I can turn this all around somehow and bring you back home?"

"You can try. This thing's been going on for fifty years, so there's bound to be something out there to look at."

Harper and all of the dolls heard Quinn's footsteps.

"Good luck, we have faith in you! "

When Quinn stepped back into the room, she was a bit alarmed with Harper's fascination with Jade.

Harper noticed this and came up with an excuse.

"She's a real pretty doll, Quinn. "

She certainly was, indeed.


	12. Chapter 12

The bus ride home was silent for Harper. More so than ever before.

The realization was a shock. And it was all that was on her mind.

She was quick to search for Eldred, to tell him off her new development in the search for Jade.

She found him where he always was, the courtyard. Even at night, he was there. Had never really had money to spend in the city, so he had to just stay on campus.

It was all he could do. He inspired himself being one with nature. Well, within the boundaries of North Park, of course.

"Hey, Eldred, is that you? "

Harper heard guitars and singing in the night, but dared not to approach it right away.

"Yeah! It's me!"

He was with a few other friends, but broke away from them at the sight of her shadow.

"How've you been?" He asked, as he could see her much clearer under a light post.

"Well, a bit confused. I have something to tell you, about Jade.. It might be a bit outlandish... But I think I should say something anyway..." Harper was hesitant.

As far as she was concerned, there was no turning back.

"Honestly, Harper, I'll believe anything you say. Spill the beans."

Eldred relished her presence and words in secrecy. So, the longer she spoke, the happier he was.

"I got a new job as a babysitter. In Orlando Park, and there's a little girl who I take care of there. She's got all of these Barbie dolls she plays with, but the thing is, they're real people. They're too diverse in size and skin color and everything else.. It's the strangest thing. They talk like real people, and I know this because Jade is one of them. "

"You're serious? How is that possible?"

Harper put her hands on her face, "I don't know! It just... It just is, and I can't explain it!"

Eldred remembered something he read a long time ago, while still in high school in Alabama. The words Harper just told him brought back memories.

He was surfing the internet during his spare time in the computer lab. It was his sophomore year of high school, and it was hot outside, like always, from what he remembered.

He was bored. Bored as hell, so he went to a horror story website. A lot of the stories bored him even more, and he almost closed out the page until he saw a story that looked particularly interesting.

On it's thumbnail, there was a photo of a little girl. With perfect blonde pigtails and blue eyes. The story was simply called Quinn, the name of the girl.

He found it odd that such an innocent image appeared on his computer. At first, he thought it was the school's proxy system. Then, he saw that it was real. All real.

After he clicked on the photo, he began reading the story. And he read until the bell rang for class to end.

It was about a little girl and her dolls. And how she had somehow accumulated these dolls because of her babysitters. Because they *were* her babysitters. Both the hot tempers of her and her mysterious mother contributed to that happening, and they almost made a hobby out of collecting the dolls. Well, they made a hobby out of collecting human flesh. People.

More than three years had passed, and Eldred still stored this story in his mind. It was fascinating. He thought it was merely an urban legend, but it still piqued his interest. He would tell the story at campfires, he would tell it at sleepovers, but he never, ever, dared to tell it to Harper.

Until now.

"What's the girl's name, Harper? The little girl you babysit.. What's her name?"

"Quinn. Her name is Quinn."

Eldred's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened.

"Well, then, I have to show you something. Really quick. I believe you, and other people believe you too."

He took Harper's hand and he walked her to his dorm, where they both sat in front of his laptop.

"What's all of this about?"

"The dolls, Harper. The dolls. You're not crazy! I remember this story... I read on a website all of those years ago.. I swear to God I read it before."

"Are you having deja vu, possibly?"

"No.. I'm not. I _know_ I saw it before."

When the laptop turned on, he went to Google and typed in Quinn's name to search.

Nothing came up, it was too vague.

He then kept typing, adding in "dolls" alongside her name.

That's when he found it. The exact same website as he had years ago.

"Is this it? Is this her, Harper?"

Harper focused intently on the story.

It started off with Quinn's birth, which she knew was *definitely* seven years earlier. She saw that multiple girls fell victim to Quinn and Kathy Behr, all of whom had first and last names until the last, who was yet to be identified.

All of these girls were thought to have been murdered, all of whom were last seen right before leaving for their babysitting jobs in the same Chicago suburb. For years, it was thought to be the work of a methodical serial killer, but no bodies were ever found surrounding the cases and the girls. All that was known was that a few of their small, trivial belongings were found at the house.

The house of Kathy Behr.

"I... I... Think it is, Eldred.. It's them.."

The only way to save the dolls was to make it clear that you knew about their existence, as dolls. Which unbeknownst to Eldred and Harper, Jade did before she had become one herself.

The 'spell' had to be broken with two people. Which was why Kathy forbade the girls to bring their boyfriends with them, and if they did anyway, both of them would fall victim, as in Molly's case.

"When's your next job.. There... At Quinn's house?"

Harper sighed, trying to remember. "I'm kind of on call.. I'm thinking that it might be tomorrow. She didn't schedule anything with me."

"Okay.. How about I come over after she leaves. By bus. When you know she's coming, I'll hide in the closet.  
When she comes in, I'll come in and we'll tell her. "

"How will you know? How will we keep Quinn from going out there?"

"We'll see when we get there. I need to get familiar with my surroundings. The house, I mean."

"Isn't that a bit rash?"

"No, I think it's just fine. We'll be fine. I promise." Eldred leaned closer to Harper and kissed her cheek.

Harper was shocked and blushed, "I guess you're right." She squeezed his hand. "Well, I'll have to get going. It's quite late. And I've got class in the morning."

She got up and took the short walk to the door, and then turned around. She put her hand on the knob and then dropped it.

She tried to step over the clothes on the floor and she went back to her friend.

"Good night." She said to him, before kissing his cheek in return. "See you tomorrow!"

Harper then finally walked out of the door for real, and went to her own dorm, both dreading and dreaming of the new day ahead.


	13. Chapter 13

Class went well and there were no calls, absolutely none.

So far, Harper was in the clear.

Her creative writing class had just ended, a new prompt was handed to her. She decided to start working on it right away, knowing that at that point, it might have been unlikely that anything else would come up.

She sat on her usual bench in the courtyard, which at that time of day, was normally devoid of the art majors. That morning, however, they were standing right in their same spot, calling to others to help in the search for Jade.

Harper saw no harm in their activities and began to work on her project.

 _"Imagine yourself as a doll in a toy chest, wonder how such a life would lead? What would happen when your child grows up? What if they never do? Explain in a minimum of ten pages, all of which are due Monday morning. Get thinking, writers!"_

The plot was oddly enough, perfectly timed, which inspired Harper to type at lightning speed.

 _"I see every day with broken, plastic eyes. I am sheltered and I am broken. Utterly lost at the bottom of the toy box, I think, I see, and I sadly, don't do. I am scared. Frightened of when she will come back. She tore my arm off like it was nothing, though in her case, it certainly is._

 _People should know that dolls are just like them. They make us, but we live and breathe. We consume as much of everything as they do, so they should treat us equally and with respect._

 _But they don't know, so they don't. And she doesn't._

 _Quinn doesn't.."_

Her phone rang as she was typing, and she picked it up. Not surprising, it was Eldred who sent her a text.

"Hey! Have you gotten a call yet? :)"

"No. I'm writing. About the dolls.. Are you with your friends back there?"

"Yeah. I am. Can I come sit with you? I can see you."

"Sure. :)"

Before she knew it, Eldred came to sit with her on the bench.

"Hey... Why are you writing about the dolls? Is it for class?"

Harper laughed, "Yes. It is. But Professor Williams gave us the perfect prompt. Here, read it."

 _"Imagine yourself as a doll in a toy chest, wonder how such a life would lead? What would happen when your child grows up? What if they never do? Explain in a minimum of ten pages, all of which are due Monday morning. Get thinking, writers!"_

Eldred then laughed also, "Wow! It's quite the coincidence. Unless he already knows.."

"No, El, he knows nothing. I cross my heart and hope to die. You're the only one who believes my crazy ideas.. Because you love me, right?"

Eldred blushed and tried to hide himself. "You're smart, Harper. You're creative, not crazy.. And yes, I love you. More than a friend."

"Well... I guess I can say the same in that case. I figured you were busy and didn't want to disturb you, or bring it up. After last night, though, I thought it was the right thing to do. Do you have any more classes today?"

"No, you?"

"No."

Both of them were bashful, unable to think of what to do next. They were new to this 'dating' thing. They were awfully confused.

"Then how about we go to coffee or something? We're bound to get a phone call if we wait long enough."

Harper immediately agreed, and for the first time in a long time, Eldred stepped off of the campus grounds, feeling much more confident.

It was true he had no money to spend, but by God, he swore he was going to spend it.

He was going to spend it on Harper. And he was okay with it. And when he'd tell his parents he had a girlfriend, they would be bound to send him more money.

All they ever wanted was grandchildren anyway.

They walked through town, before they figured they couldn't walk any further anymore. They settled on a Starbucks along a street corner, ordered some hot coffee, and sat on a comfortable couch by the window, watching the city goers hurry up and down the street.

"So..." Eldred tried to spur up conversation, "I know you just started the story about the dolls, but how is it going?"

Harper smiled, "Swimmingly! I need a suggestion.. How do I continue?"

Eldred read the manuscript again. "Well, explain details about Quinn.. I suppose. Like what is she like? What does she do? You know her, it should be easy."

As Harper typed, she saw a yellow flash zip by. Out of the corner of her eye. She looked up to see what it was, only to be taken by surprise.

It was none other than Kathy Behr, Quinn's mother. Her hair was up in a bun and she wore a scarf around her neck, despite the comfortable temperature.

Harper kept on writing and kept on watching, trying to me as unnoticeable as possible. But being a coincidental likeness of her favorite author both in name and image, it was hard. Extremely.

She kept her eyes on the computer, trying to concentrate as deeply as possible.

 _"Quinn was her owner, as all dolls have owners._

 _From what this doll knows, she's seven years old. But how? She's been in this... Person's care for fourteen years! It can't be, it just can't!_

 _She wondered why Quinn never grew up, and she wondered why she didn't get her arm back. She wondered how it was possible that she, a plastic doll, had more of a heart than a human being in flesh and blood._

 _She wondered how she could ache so much if her body wasn't flesh and bone, and how a human girl couldn't ache at all._

 _Putting Quinn's perfections aside, it seemed that she felt nothing. Nothing other than evil, if anything._

 _She acted nice and looked nice, but that's only the image of a human fool. Or any fool, at that._

 _Her blonde, cute pigtails and her bright, blue eyes are no match for the darkness in her heart."_

Eldred was frightened of the woman himself, but thought Harper took no notice. When Harper stopped writing again, she saw Kathy was waiting for her coffee.

"Who's she?" Eldred asked, subtly pointing at the woman.

Harper went back to her assignment, pressed the enter key a few times, and wrote it on the screen. Speaking was too risky. Especially at a time like that.

"Quinn's mother."

He nodded his head, and kept watching Kathy's movements.

She tapped her foot impatiently at the counter, like she had some kind of authority. The truth was, she did, in a sense. Though it involved none of the people around her. She checked her watch to add to her image of importance. Her eyes scanned the room, spotting Harper.

Upon seeing her employee, she hustled closer to her, making sure her heels clicked as she did so.

"Would you mind coming at five o'clock tonight, I have a meeting to go to, I hope you can understand, dear."

Harper nodded her head yes, "That's fine under one condition, as long as I can bring my computer. Does that sound all right with you? I have to finish my assignment.. It's due tomorrow."

"Oh, that's perfectly fine! I'll see you at five then, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am. Have a good day."

"You too, Harper!"

Kathy went to grab her coffee, as her name had been called. Then she walked out of the door and out to the street.

"That woman is _certainly_ Quinn's mother, isn't she?"

"Uh huh. She is." Harper sipped her own drink, which was becoming a little lukewarm. "She's got a temper that's hot as hell, from what I know. She's a modern day Mrs. Dubose."

Eldred laughed, "Don't say hey to me, you ugly girl!"

The couple burst out laughing in the coffee shop, purely and utterly causing a scene. The other, normal customers stared in awe.

"Harper, I love you. You're hilarious. You really are." Eldred told her, as the laughter subdued. The people were still watching them, though they didn't notice.

"No, _you're_ the hilarious one! You said the quote, not me! And.. I love you too."

Eldred rushed and kissed her lips, again, in front of all of the other customers. All he saw in the room was her, and he thought nothing of it.

And she didn't either. She kissed him back.

A man in a fedora was becoming annoyed, as he tried to drink his Americano in the back corner. He had to head to work in ten minutes, according to his watch.

He had better things to do.

"Come on! Take it somewhere else!"

They broke apart and packed their things, as they walked out the door, they looked each other and held hands out in the street.

"Let's go save some dolls! Come on!"

The light at the corner signaled green, and they ran across that street like they never ran before.

Their eyes were on the Behr house. And _only_ the Behr house.


	14. Chapter 14

When time should have sped by, it dragged on and on, like it was going to stop.

The clock was tormenting them. It was pointing it's hands out in the wrong directions on purpose, it seemed. Even after a filling lunch at the campus, it still lingered on.

The clock was paining them, and maybe, it needed to.

Time passes as quickly or as slowly as it wants in the Twilight Zone.

People themselves have a say in nothing. Nothing at all.

The clock finally stuck four thirty, and the dash out the door went faster than anything else in their lives.

Thoughts raced up, down, left, and right in Harper's head. Like a neurological racetrack.

 _"Quinn doesn't care. She doesn't care about anybody. Except herself, as she thinks she's the epitome of child pageant beauty. She acts like she loves you and then rips off your plastic limbs like you're nothing. But that's what people do, because they don't think that we're people too._

 _We're people. We were born human and wanted to die human. They search for the secret to immortality like it's some kind of holy grail. Like it's sacred._

 _The truth is, they've been making it for thousands of years._

 _Out of leather. Out of cloth. Out of husks. Out of wool. And even out of sticks and stones!_

 _They've been making the fountain of youth out of plastic._

 _They've been making the fountain of youth out of plastic because they've been making human beings for years, and years, and years._

 _But do they see us? No! Because we go missing, and they turn us to foot tall plastic toys with their eyes._

 _You think, 'Well, so people can perform_ _ **real**_ _magic now? What's next? Will they turn_ _ **me**_ _into a doll? '_

 _Yes, possibly. I think so. I think that one day, all of us Will be pawn in the wretched game of immortality. When they find out the truth. *If* they find out the truth._

 _Because truthfully speaking, we are all just toys for the universe to play with."_

She couldn't jot down anything. She had to pay her bus fare. And choose a seat. And stare out the window, before she could write anymore.

The buildings of Chicago didn't look as appealing. Even Eldred's touch couldn't cause her to even bat an eyelash.

 _"We are all just toys to play with. God's little trinkets. And maybe he's got some kind of trick up his sleeve._

 _What if he's Quinn?_

 _What if he's the devil?"_

All thoughts came to a screeching halt.

"Harper.. We're at our stop."

Harper looked up at Eldred, a bit dazed.  
She took his hand and they walked off the bus together. They had a few minutes to spare and sat together on the bus stop bench.

"Are you okay, Harper? You went a bit.. You became a little comatose on the bus there.. I was a bit worried.."

Harper was still silent at first, but then spoke softly.

"I get into these moods sometimes, that I can't really come out of. It's the opposite of writer's block. In a way. I'm sorry I've worried you, El. We need to get going before it's too late. And I become a doll. Like the others."

"Of course! Of course! Let's go, quick!"

They ran another dash, speeding across the uneven, weedy sidewalks.

They made it to the house at 4:59pm. One minute early.

Harper knocked on the door and Kathy answered, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I thought you'd never show up! "

Harper nodded her head and sighed, "Well, ma'am, the bus traffic was awful! I didn't mean to be late. "

"You're not, dear, you've still got a whole minute to spare! I'll be going now! You have a good evening, dear, get to work! Goodbye! "

"Goodbye..." Harper shut the door behind her slowly, waiting for her to leave.

Meanwhile, Eldred was hiding behind one of the bushes in the yard, waiting for the coast to clear.

As soon as Kathy's car disappeared, Eldred walked in the door, and stayed there.

Hours went by, and all seemed normal. Quinn never noticed the man hiding in the linen closet, and she never noticed him. The dolls knew nothing of what was yet to come.

Finally, after dark, Kathy came home. Quinn was sent to bed and Harper was fast asleep on the couch.

"Harper? Is that you? "

Harper woke up, "What? "

"I'm home. I'll get you your money, just a moment. "

"Okay.. " She sat up on the couch. "Thank you."

It took a minute to remember her objective, as Kathy ran to her bedroom to get bills from her safe.

 _"We are just toys to play with..."_

She got up and retrieved Eldred from these linen closet, what he was playing Tetris on his phone.

When Kathy came back, she was shocked to see yet _another_ man in her house.

"What's going on?" She crossed her arms in anger. Her temper was just beginning to flare.

"Kathy, we know about the dolls." Harper tried hard to stand tall and looked her in the eye. I've known, and he knows. "

Eldred was frightened, but realized he had to speak too.

It was the only way to save the dolls.

"I know. They're in that wicker basket in your daughter's closet. And they're also people. *Living*, breathing people, trapped in plastic bodies!"

Afterwards, he took a deep breath.

And Kathy, well, Kathy took Her _last_ breath.

She fell onto the hardwood floor. Her body aged and she eventually turned into a pile of ashes.

Harper put her hands over her lips and gasped.

Eldred looked away and became squeamish.

"What about... Quinn? And... The dolls?" Harper asked, remembering the website she read with Eldred. He knew more than she had.

For a fact.

"I don't know.. I think Quinn ages too.. Doesn't she?"

Before they could figure it out themselves, Quinn hobbled into the room.

"What... Have you done? "

She had turned into an old woman. At _least_ sixty years old. Her glasses no longer her head and she had become weak.

Even with her weaknesses, she was still able to make a point. She was, after all, once a holder of the secret to immortality.

She never planned to be weak. She wanted nothing to do with it.

"You... You.. Monster!" She pointed at Harper.

The students became scared huddled close to each other.

Voices came from the other rooms, rejoicing.

They were free. Finally free, after all of those years.

When they first became human, all of the dolls were in a pile, on top of each other and extremely uncomfortable.

When they all filled Quinn's bedroom, they started cheering.

They could do what they wanted again. They could walk among the people as they always had, and they hadn't aged a day either.

"It's been so long.." Rhonda ran to one of the windows and opened the curtains. "I can see the sun! I can't believe it! We can see the sun!"

"We can go outside!"

"We can breathe again!"

"We can sing!"

Normally, these things wouldn't bring much excitement to any human. But these girls, these women, hadn't been human for a long, long time. And they were going to embrace it as they never embraced anything before.

Meanwhile, in the other room, in Kathy's bedroom closet, Anthony hit his head on the wooden shelf, having been in a standing position, alone, twelve inches tall, for more than thirty years.

"What the hell?"

He then felt his head, and his arms, and his feet.

He was human. And he couldn't believe it.

"Molly! I'm coming! Molly, I've missed you!"

They were reunited, right in front of the linen closet. They held each other and wouldn't let go.

"It's over." He said, "It's over. And now, we can start our lives again."

Jade was the last one to walk out of the bedroom, and was shocked to see what was in front of her.

A girl she saw from school, one who passed by her quite often after class, in the arms of her friend, Eldred.

She saw a pile of ashes on the hardwood floor, and she saw the elderly Quinn on the couch, withering away.

"How did you do it?" Jade stared at the scene, almost unable to take it in.

"We just told her we knew about you. That's all." Eldred explained, barely in a whisper. "Harper wanted to save you for a while, and that's all."

Oh, really, that _is_ all. All that ever happened in the world of the dolls, ever. Nobody would ever again hold the powers the Behr family possessed. Never again, not in the Twilight Zone.


End file.
